Detention
by hopeyoon1
Summary: This is a romance between Ryoma and a sharp OC girl called Akari. It all starts when Akari is forced to tutor a grumbling Ryoma in history... As their paths keep crossing, a new story begins.
1. Detention Number One

Detention

**Disclaimer: I do not own PoT. Really?**

**Author's note: I have never, ever done anything like this before. I thought I needed the disclaimer so I put it in. Those of you who want to know more about the story before reading on, I have created a fictional character called Akari to be paired with Ryoma. Sorry for those of you who don't like new characters. I will also try to incorporate some classic Seigaku friend-humor, especially for Fuji (I love him so much but I don't feel talented enough yet to pull off a story with him as a main character). Please, it's my first try, be lenient on me and correct me through reviews... The story will not be very well polished, I barely edited, and I'm just trying to ease myself into the process, so the story may be a little choppy and fast. Thank you so much, here goes nothing:**

Akari Asato sat, bored, in the history classroom with her mother- Mrs. Asato was none other than Seishun gakuen's history teacher.

'What a crappy situation… Sitting here every wednesday, waiting while mom does her detentions. I've attended so many sessions by now, I could almost teach history myself!' Akari thought to herself, like she did last week. And the week before that. Sighing, she pulled out her homework and began to write away.

"Well there you are, Fuji Syusuke, you're right on time," her mother said. Akari spun around. Fuji-senpai? He had detention? No way!

"Aa- sensei." Fuji-senpai smiled. He had honey hair that fell lightly almost to his shoulders, a slender build and delicate features which made so many girls swoon when combined with his kindness and intelligence.

"As sad as it is that you're getting detention for letting Echizen-kun copy your history project from _two years ago_, I can't believe he's late," said.

Fuji-senpai sat next to Akari, smiling.

"Hey," he said. Akari blushed- he probably thought she had detention! "I think I saw you here last week, too, when I dragged Momo to his detention."

"A! Fu-fuji senpai… She's my mom…" Akari said, beckoning to the teacher. Fuji chuckled lightly.

"Oh, I see. But you know my name already, how thankful!" Fuji replied modestly, even though he knew almost everyone in the school was familiar with his name.

"Oh- I'm Akari Asato."

Just then, the door slammed open and in came a huffing and puffing freshman- Echizen Ryoma.

"Ah, Echizen!"

"Fuji-senpai… Ah, sensei…"

"Echizen-kun, you're late for detention, thereby earning you another one." Akari's mother stated cruelly.

"Seeing as I'm feeling bad for you, Fuji-kun, for getting in trouble with this idiot, you may go after you promise you'll never let anyone copy again."

"Thank you, sensei. I promise." Fuji said, packing up his things. He added a sadistic smile to Ryoma before adding- "good luck, Echizen."

"Fu-fuji senpai…" Ryoma grimaced. He was pissed as hell- he was not an idiot! He was good at any other subject- A-'s to B+'s, almost top of the class in English in fact. It was just history he struggled with- he had never learned anything about Japan before. He relented with a big, indignant 'hmmph'.

Mrs. Asato began her make-up lecture. Ryoma couldn't even handle the most basic questions. Akari was appalled, looking at the boy with a frown- some guys are just so dumb. She had heard of him- he, too, like Fuji-senpai, got his fair share of fangirls- He was probably a tennis-is-my-whole-world guy who spent all his afternoons at detentions. The insult rolled off her tongue before she could stop it.

"Baka…"

This earned an instant reaction. Now more-than-pissed Ryoma glared at the girl so much that his piercing cat-gaze forced Akari to look away. When Ryoma was asked the next question, he answered "shut up!" while glaring at Akari. The teacher had no idea this language was directed towards her daughter- instead, she was outraged.

"Echizen Ryoma, next week's detention will continue until 7!"

Akari sighed. That meant she also had to stay till 7.

"…Sorry about this, I provoked you." Akari said the next week, as they sat in the detention room together, waiting for the teacher to arrive from the staff meeting. Last week, Akari had called Ryoma a baka, causing him to make trouble, and thus earning him another detention.

"…hmm." Echizen replied, not even looking at Akari.

Akari classified Echizen as a naturally antisocial person, which was not incorrect to some extent. She shrugged it off and began to do her homework.

"I'm not an idiot…" Echizen mumbled after some silence, clearly having wanted to get that out of the way. It was such an immature act that Akari had to let out a laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Ryoma glared. "…I'm not an idiot," he added. The boy's stubborn pride made Akari laugh even harder.

"A…ha…haha… sorry. Nothing."

"Better be," Ryoma scowled and looked away again. But after a while, he found his eyes slipping back to the girl once in a while. She had long, brown hair that gathered and hung at the right side of her chest, a ribbon tied almost at the tip. Soft, brown eyes which still managed to be intelligent. Not eye-candy pretty in the conventional sense, but the air around her was a little superior. A little beautiful.

"Ryoma, stop looking at my daughter and answer this question please!" A sharp voice rang across the classroom, startling the boy.

_Goddamn it. I wasn't looking at her!_

"Uh… The answer is…" Ryoma tried to make out an acceptable sentence as Akari looked away. The boy's attempts at history failed miserably. Mrs. Asato sighed.

"Echizen-kun, you'll need to be treated specially. With that on note, Akari, would you like to go home on wednesdays without waiting for my detention?" asked. Akari jumped and beamed.

"Re-really mother? Of course!"

"On one condition- instead of attending detention, you'll privately tutor Echizen-kun every wednesday. If you can pull his grades up to a B-, I'll let you go home without waiting for my detentions- forever."

Both Ryoma and Akari shivered.

"No!" Both of them shouted at once.

"For one- Akari, if you don't accept, then you're stuck in my detentions for the rest of your school life. And also, Echizen-kun, you have no choice if Akari decides to accept the offer." Mrs. Asato smiled. She might actually be able to get this slacker off her back.

"Asato," Ryoma glared at Akari, addressing her by her name for the first time, "you better not. I have better things to do than take lessons from someone in the same class as me."

Akari pondered the problem. The more she thought about it, the stronger her conclusion became that it was a great offer. Detention had been her pet peeve for all those years. The boy couldn't be that stupid- if she worked hard, he could pull off a B- in maybe two months. And then would come her detention-free days. She could take the bus home alone! By herself!

"I'll take it." She said. "Better work your ass off, Echizen," she hissed to the side.

"Asato-!" Ryoma's eyes flared as he stood up from his chair.

"Enough, Echizen-kun. How lovely, maybe you can even tutor my daughter in English. See you both next week!" Mrs. Asato smiled, not letting anything drop.

**Thank you, the story will go through very short and (hopefully) many chapters.**

**For those of you who want to picture Akari, here's her hairstyle: in the picture in the link below, her hair is the first from the second row.**

**/pin/542472717587955969/ (from pinterest)**

**Her hair is a little too softy-beauty for her rather sharp character, but I liked it!**

**Let me know what you think!**


	2. Lesson Number One

The First Lesson

**AN: There, three incredibly short chapters, that's all I have for today. (Just discovering the new world of fanfics)**

**Gotta get to reading some actually good fanfics! Which means fanfics that anyone else other than I have written! And thrill pair fanfics, which I'm not talented enough to pull off... Or anything, actually... Sorry for the babbling!**

Akari began to doubt her decisions more and more as she dwindled over to her mother's classroom after school the next wednesday. Was she making a terrible mistake, deciding to take on that arrogant tennis boy?

Ryoma began to dread the lesson more and more as the time drew near.

"Nya! Ochibi-san! Hahahahaha! He's taking lessons from another girl!" Eiji pounced on Ryoma.

"Ki…Kikumaru-senpai…"

"Sorry, sorry. But it's just too funny! Nya, Fuji, did you hear? Ochibi's taking after-school history lessons from another freshman!" Eiji doubled over laughing as Fuji smiled.

"Oh, that Akari? You guys would look cute together," Fuji teased as Ryoma listened, wanting to break the nearest window.

"Se-senpai, please… It's bad enough," Ryoma grumbled as he made his way down the hallway, parting with Eiji and Fuji to get to his lesson.

"Good luck," was what Ryoma heard Fuji-senpai say with a smile behind his back.

"Nya! Momo! Did you hear-" As Ryoma heard Momo's booming laughter, he began to run for the classroom, not wanting to encounter his teammates again. Mrs. Asato pointed him down to an empty classroom where she had sent her daughter.

Akari was sitting there before Ryoma, spinning a pen with her fingers. When Ryoma walked in, looking everywhere but at Akari, both of them felt awkward as hell. But, as much as Akari hated to admit it, Echizen was hot. Hot. His white cap half-concealed his face, and he was in normal school uniform, which was just as sexy as his tennis regular's uniform. No wonder so many girls squeaked over him. _I'm not like that, and I will never be,_ Akari reminded herself. She was a poor student stuck as a tutor.

"Let's just get through this, Echizen," Akari said with a sigh. "I want to be here just as much as you do- as I said before, you better work your ass off. You are getting that B- in the next midterms."

"Hmmph." That was Ryoma's reply.

"Open to page 21," Akari tried a commanding teacher's voice. Ryoma did not comply.

"Hey, ope-"

"Don't have the book with me," Echizen cut in as soon as Akari was about to repeat the request. Akari was appalled.

"Here I am, stuck in a classroom because of you, and you-" Akari couldn't even finish her sentence. "Fine, for today we'll just have to share mine. Come to this side of the table."

_Shoot, _Ryoma thought. _Plan fail._

As minutes went by, Akari lectured as Ryoma looked out the window.

"Echizen? Echizen… the significance of this event is…? Echizen!"

"Huh?" Echizen had woken up from a Karupin daydream.

"You're not really trying, are you." Akari said.

"Oh no, obviously I'm thrilled to be taking lessons from you." Ryoma replied, his natural sense of twisted humor taking over, still refusing to make eye contact.

"You know, Fuji-senpai gave me some advice yesterday about you…" Akari hinted. Ryoma gulped and looked at Akari. Fuji-senpai? That was a little dangerous.

"He said if you refuse to listen, he always has some juice samples he could treat you to. God knows what that means, but since Fuji-senpai said it, it must work, hmm?" Akari said, leaning closer to Ryoma with a dangerous smile that was not unlike Fuji's.

"Uh… hm… So the significance is…"


	3. Lesson Number Two

**AN: Okay, okay, I'm officially the most impatient person in the world. I had a few chapters of 'saves' just in case I didn't have enough time while the story progresses, but I'm just gonna post it all. Nothing much happens in this chapter, either, but hopefully the next chapter will be a little crazier (a.k.a. more exciting, funny, fast).**

**Here goes nothing:**

Lesson Number Two

Akari Asato had gotten seven questions wrong for her english quiz, and her teacher had given her a make-up assignment. She had to do this well. Now, had been kidding when she mentioned that Ryoma should teach her daughter English, but it didn't feel like a joke as Asato looked at her complete assignment in worry.

"Hey, Echizen," she started.

"Hmm," the disinterested freshman replied from under his hat.

"I'll let you go twenty minutes early if-" Ryoma looked up in sudden attentiveness- "if you, um, proofread my English assignment…?"

Ryoma snatched the paper from Akari's hands and started to read.

"First off, that's not how you spell 'weird'. And… your verb tenses are off there." He continued, looking mildly intelligent in Akari's eyes for the first time. As Ryoma went through the paper, pointing out dozens of mistakes, Akari grew nervous at the thought that she was about to turn that in without checking.

"And… That's it."

"Wow, thanks."

"Hmm."

Akari still thought her first analysis of the boy had been correct- namely, anti-social, snarky, and arrogant. Maybe not as dumb as she thought. Maybe not as, well, she wasn't sure.

The lesson went by as the previous one had. Ryoma had learned about as much as a freckle. But as he exited the classroom after the class, something caught Akari by surprise.

"Oh… Asato?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Echizen had said that, however small it had been. _For what? _Akari wondered.

Ryoma had to admit, Akari wasn't as annoying of a girl as his fangirls were. He was able to stick Akari. Plus, she did let him go twenty minutes early.


	4. A Monday Morning

**AN: All right, this is the last of what I had in stock. Which means that I'll actually need to write another chapter before I can update.. Which may or may not be a long time, because I'm a fickle person. (Wow, fickle and impatient- what kind of a writer am I?) Anyways, as I'd mentioned before, this chapter is hopefully a little crazier than the others. (If this could even be called exciting to any sight extent.)**

A Monday Morning

It was a monday morning when the teacher called Echizen Ryoma up to the front of the classroom to congratulate him on his recent efforts in the tennis tournament. Fangirls scattered in the class shared secretive looks among themselves. A plan had formed.

As soon as Ryoma walked out of the classroom to get a Ponta during break, he was greeted by a mob of girls, undoubtedly the whole clan had been called to gather by the contacts of the few who shared his class. Harmless students who had simply been walking across the hallway quickly turned around to find a new route- the place was clogged.

Ryoma couldn't see anything. He could hear too much. Feel too much. Screams of "Ryoma-sama!" "My prince!" Echoed through the hallways as girls struggled to get one touch of his body. Ryoma was feeling molested all the way through when he finally managed to walk back into the classroom. Akari, who had been too intimidated to go check out the ruckus, noticed a very ruffled Echizen walk in. Her eyes caught onto one detail of the boy. After debating the matter to herself for a while, she walked over to Ryoma.

"Hey, Echizen," she whispered after looking around, "your, uh…"

"What?" Ryoma glared up at her. He was done with putting up with girls for the day.

"No, really, you…" Akari was having a hard time bringing the matter up.

"Get away from me." His sharp words stung Akari. She was only trying to help! Thankfully, as if apologetic, he finally looked up at her.

"What's the matter?"

"Your…" She looked away and gestured towards his pants, awkwardly standing there. Ryoma looked down, to discover in shock that the button on his pants had been torn away. _Damn those bitches,_ he thought, and stood up in a hurry, carefully facing the wall. After quickly tying his tennis jacket around his waist, an embarrased-as-hell Ryoma pondered what to do.

"I carry an extra button for my shirt- it's not the same color, or size, for that matter, but… whatever." Akari was just as embarrassed as Ryoma was, and she almost ran back to her seat after leaving the button on his desk. Fuming, Ryoma took the button and headed for the nurse's office. He didn't even want to think about explaining how the situation had occurred.

Bonus!

After school at the changing room…

"Ehh, Ochibi, the button on your pants…" Eiji pointed out with his 'body eyesight' which was still active outside of tennis.

"Long story," he grumbled. He was thankful none of his teammates were observant enough to see what kind of button that was. Actually, he wasn't even sure, with Fuji-senpai still smiling at him like that.


	5. Lesson Number Three

**AN: Well, there it is. Lesson number three; hopefully this one pushes the romance a little more. Sorry for anyone who thinks this is too fast/ slow. Reviews/suggestions please I love them! **

Lesson Number Three

The third lesson did indeed feel different. They were a little more familiar with each other, but in an awkward way. Ryoma had brought his textbook with him and stayed silent while Akari just lectured without either of them mentioning the button incident. Any thoughts of that monday made both of them even more awkward. There had been another embarrassing encounter where Ryoma's mom had forced him to return the button with thanks. Akari didn't carry the button around anymore, because seriously, how weird was that?

"Okay, we can take a five-minute break now," Akari said, deciding they had covered more material than they had for the whole first and second lessons, due to the awkwardness preventing them both from hitting snide comments back and forth at each other. She was feeling progress. She felt good about herself until Echizen pushed his chair back, stood up and went out the door.

"Echizen, where are you going? It's just five minutes- no time to do anything." Ryoma did not even look back while answering, "sleep." As the Seigaku regular members would know, Ryoma would take the time out of anything to sleep. Eiji teased him a lot, asking if sleep wasn't supposed to make short people grow more.

Akari sat, dumbfounded, as she watched the boy walk out of the classroom. How could someone possibly have the guts to go outside and- and _sleep _during a tutoring session? He was probably going to the grassy patch right outside, she knew. She also knew that the stubborn boy would ignore her if she went to wake him up before the five minutes was over, but he would also never come back in time by himself.

Akari sighed and played with her phone. Most of her notifications came from Ryoma's fan club, which had somehow figured out that Akari was giving him lessons and pressed her for details. She sighed- this had been happening ever since last week's first lesson. She tried to round off the answers to all the questions, mostly 'haven't noticed' or 'I don't know' or 'nothing much happened', until the five minutes was over. She then dragged herself up to a standing position to go look for Echizen.

Sure enough, he was lying down, eyes closed, on the grass. His head was rested on his own locked hands, leanly muscled legs crossed. He had his hat off right beside him, and it was the first time Akari had a plain view of his hair. She pushed her soft, brown bangs out of the way to see better. The sunlight caressing his locks made the dark-green tint stand out even more. His mouth stayed slightly open, and his jacket rose and fell, rose and fell as the grass around him bowed to the wind, or simply to Echizen… Akari found herself mesmerized in the dark green hair. The breeze blew all around them, and her red ribbon danced to the rhythm. She snapped out of it once she realized they needed to get going.

"Hey, Echizen," she said, nowhere near to waking him up. She carefully nudged his elbow with the toe of her shoe. "Echizen," she said, this time louder. Ryoma's eyebrows furrowed, not wanting to wake up but already have done so.

"I know you're awake, Echizen, just give up, let's go," Akari said. Ryoma reluctantly opened his lids and sulked.

"…If you buy me a ponta," he said. Echizen had once more knocked Akari into disbelief. What kind of a guy was this? But Akari knew he would get what he wanted in the end, so she trudged to the vending machine.

When she was back, he was gone. She grumbled and started the search for him, going in circles all around the campus, but he was nowhere to be found. She got the idea that he might be on the roof, she was sure of it, but it was empty. After fifteen minutes of searching, she gave up and went back into the classroom, just to find Ryoma there, smiling with his textbook open like a perfectly good boy.

"Hey, what's wrong, _teacher, _late for class?" He walked over to the still Akari, and slipped the ponta into his own hand.

"Hey, thanks," he said. "You know, I was waiting to start the lesson, but I couldn't find you, so what could I have done?" He smirked and opened the ponta. He took slow sips, savoring every bit of the grape-flavored drink, knowing Akari would have no more energy left but to conclude the day's lesson here. He loved winning- in tennis or not. And as soon as Akari called him a baka that first time they met, he knew he would have to step up his game a little- she would be defeated soon. And sure enough, one more victory for Echizen.

_That guy is seriously talented- and not just in tennis, _Akari thought. _And, of course, that's not necessarily a good thing. _


	6. Lesson Number Four

Lesson Number Four

**AN: Another short chapter, where nothing much happens between Akari and Ryoma. Still, I hope I'm dropping enough hints of affection. Just wanted to write this out of my love for Fuji, but (have I mentioned this before?) I was too intimidated to use him as a main character because I was worried I wasn't a good enough writer to pull his character off. Fuji will still be making many entrances, and it is up to you to see what kind of a role he serves in the story. By the way, I compiled the first two chapters together because the first chapter was doing no good by itself. Sorry if this caused any confusion. Additionally, this is the last introductory chapter, so the last chapter you will see named with a boring number. Thank you!**

**For those of you who are bored with my AN, by all means skip this part and go on. From here will be my writer's babble. Thank you for reviews, they really power me along. School is very stressful these days. I'm asian, did you know? Korean at that. Korean education... *shudder* Not to be hateful with my own race, of course. Korea is amazing and you guys should all come visit. End of babbling for the day. I will try to update faster, I know my chapters are really short!**

The lesson continued in this manner until the door to the classroom slid open.

"Saa, Echizen." There stood a slender, smiling figure. After greeting Akari with a nod- "Asato," he went on to talk.

"Sorry to be interrupting, but Tezuka said he wanted you to know as soon as possible. He has to visit Germany to look into future plans for a few days, which means I'll be singles 1 for the first matches of the upcoming tournament… And you'll be second."

"Okay." He replied, not showing a slight thrill he had from the feeling that he would be going against stronger players.

"It's very nice of you, Asato, to be trying to wrestle information into that boy's head- it can't be easy. His brain isn't quite wired for history."

"Tha-thank you?" Akari's answer ended up more like a question. Fuji had that presence in the room which just made everything harder to understand and more dangerous at the same time, and it just made you feel insecure.

"Senpai! It's just that I don't like history much!"

"But you seem to be having trouble," Fuji said with his kind smile.

"Che, a good senpai is supposed to help if there's trouble," Ryoma said. He was quite daring, the way he didn't hold back too much in front of upperclassmen.

"Hmm? How sweet of you to care. But don't cross the line," Fuji said dangerously, sending shivers down both the freshmen's backs.

"And Echizen?" Fuji asked over his shoulder before stepping out of the classroom.

"What?"

"Concentrate on history." Fuji said with a smile, then finally, he was gone. His cryptic messages was far from easy to decipher. While Ryoma simmered, Akari shuddered. It was true; Fuji-senpai was probably scarier than Tezuka-senpai.

"He terrifies the hell out of other first-years too." Ryoma muttered.

"…I could only imagine," Akari replied, still staring at the door where the tensai had been.

"Hey, can we get going with the lesson?" Ryoma said, agitated at the sudden attention directed towards his annoying senpai.

"Yeah, yeah. Jesus, you're such a brat to deal with."

"What?" Ryoma flared. The awkwardness of last class was gone and the bickering was back. After the 'I'll get up if you buy me a ponta' joke, any sweet feelings Akari had held for Echizen had melted. _The way he looked when he was sleeping on the grass, that's what got me for a while. He's still annoying as hell, _Akari thought. _But he has really charming hair._

"Say, he must be really good if he's better than you, huh? I mean, you've won how many American junior championships?"

"Four," Ryoma replied, not knowing whether he should be feeling good for the recognition or angry at the fact that everyone thought Fuji was better than him at tennis. He probably was, but Ryoma was nowhere near ready to admit it. Ryoma was pushed to his furthest limit on the famous rainy day, but when he saw Fuji's icy eyes after the game, something let Ryoma know that Fuji had still not brought out all of what he held in store. _I'll get him soon enough, dammit, _he thought, gleam in his eyes.

_E-echizen is pretty scary too, _Akari thought, as she looked at the boy glaring at his history textbook as if he was about to burn a hole right through it.


	7. The Roof

The Roof

**AN: Here we go! This could be seen as another uneventful chapter I guess... But it is actually really significant in the storyline and I am implying lots with this chapter. It will be mentioned again later! **

**Plus, as you may have notices, introductory chapters are over and every chapter will have a proper title from now on! (Unlike the previous chapters, which I wrote to get the story going, ease myself into the process, and so on. They were mostly titled with numbers but now that I'm ready to progress the story, no more need. Thank you!)**

It was the fifth lesson when Akari asked.

"Echizen, don't you have any friends? I mean, there're so many people who would die to hang out with you, but you're always alone."

"Friends? Well, Momo-senpai, Kikumaru- senpai…"

"No, not all your tennis senpais," Akari cut him short before he could continue. "They all have their own friends outside of tennis, you know. What about a… just a friend? No?'

Ryoma thought for a while. "No, not really."

"Who do you eat lunch with?"

"No one."

"How can you stand it?"

"Don't care." Ryoma replied. Akari stared at him- _what a boy. _She shrugged it off. It wasn't her place to meddle. After all, his being antisocial did not hinder his popularity at all.

That Friday, Ryoma had to stay back in class for missed homework, and was late for lunch. He took his lunch and started to make his way to the roof, when something caught his eye. It was a red ribbon on the floor. He picked it up- _might as well, _he thought.

He slid open the door to the classroom, and was greeted by the sight of Akari raising her voice to a couple of other girls. She snapped at them and stormed out through the door, knocking Ryoma aside without noticing him. He sensed the room grow quiet and all eyes train on him. He slid the door back closed, shrugging, and continued on his way to the roof.

Ryoma climbed to the top floor, where it was always deserted. He liked knowing a place no one else came to. Before he got to the roof door, however, he saw Akari in the hallway, pacing. He was startled at finding an edgy glare in her eyes.

Akari was in a mess. She had a fight with her best friend, Riko. Since she had stormed out first, she couldn't very well go back there to eat lunch. She was no wimp- she wasn't crying. It was just that social problems annoyed her so much, and she knew she would be alone for a while until they made up. It happened frequently to everyone in the class, with the possible exception of Echizen Ryoma, seeing that he didn't have friends to fight with in the first place.

"What are you doing here?" Ryoma couldn't help asking. The roof was supposed to be his own secret hideout.

"This is where I come after school when I want to be alone," Akari sighed with a distracted look. _Why am I sharing this with Echizen? _

"Che," Ryoma said with a slight scowl. He wasn't too happy at the thought that he had been sharing his alone spot with someone else all along. "This is where _I_ come when _I_ want to be alone." He thought about asking her what had happened, but decided he didn't really care and walked right past her. He pushed open the door to the roof, leaving Akari in the hall.

He sat down, opened his lunch box, and took a bite. Then he put his punch back down and got back up. Ryoma opened the door and leaned into the hall, where Akari was still standing.

"Asato, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said. Ryoma shrugged and was about to close the door again when she continued.

"I had a fight with my best friend and people took her side. Can't sit there for now."

Ryoma didn't understand how girls acted with their friends. Even more, he couldn't understand what slipped out of his mouth next.

"You can eat with me," he said.

Ryoma and Akari stood for a while in silence and surprise until Akari finally walked over and they went through the door together. She gave a bitter chuckle as she dropped down across from Ryoma.

"To think I'd ever be eating with you," she said. Ryoma, being a little too dense to make out the layers of meaning behind her words, just stayed quiet. They sat and ate in silence. Both of them looked up occasionally to look at the other, but they never did so at the same time. They finished their meal as a delicate breeze blew around them and Akari's soft brown hair floated around her, undone. Ryoma was reminded of the reason he had been looking for her in the first place.

"Ne, Asato, I found your ribbon," he said, tossing it over. She looked up and caught it in the last second, and they made eye contact for the first time that day.

Ryoma found himself looking into Akari's hazel eyes as she fixed the ribbon back into her hair.

"Thanks," she said, standing up.

Akari came to the roof again after school. She sat down. Somehow, it felt strange that Echizen Ryoma had been sitting in her very spot a few hours ago. Echizen Ryoma and his dark green hair.


	8. Words

**AN: Yay, longest chapter yet! It might be really untidy though, I wasn't patient enough to sit through another reading because I just wanted to get this out as fast as possible! (Beware of messy prose, confusing action, repetitive language and so on.) But this chapter is the turning point in the story, after all, and lots happen, yes! Wow I'm excited to publish. I want to personally thank all the readers... It's really encouraging. And... I hope you enjoy this special chapter!**

Words

Conversation was a weird thing for Ryoma and Akari. Given their attitudes and quirks, it didn't seem to happen that much in the first place. As they continued to eat lunch together on the roof, however, they started to carry words with ease. And although their first lunch together totally lacked in conversation, it still shared something between the two of them.

The green-haired boy and the hazel-eyed girl each possessed a different sort of loneliness. Ryoma was straightforward- he was simply _alone, _he almost didn't even care. Akari was a lot more complicated. While still managing to control a social life, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was still alone. Friends couldn't understand some things. Akari had a sort of strange intellectual pull some people found abnormal. The sharp opinions she never let go of, her own principles she would protect at any cost, those insights she seemed to have into life, other people just didn't understand these things about her.

"Why do you play tennis?" Akari asked. Ryoma glanced up from under his cap and, with no rush, finished chewing while holding his gaze at Akari. They had never talked about anything like this before. The strange intensity of his golden eyes almost made her look away, but her odd competitiveness made her keep her hazel eyes fixed on the boy, returning the stare.

"Huh," was what he managed on his first try. "It's all I've ever known."

"But tennis- isn't it so- lonely?" Akari asked. "And it's not like you do well with doubles," she added, earning a raised eyebrow from Ryoma. "And don't ask me how I know, because you'll be freaked out by how much everyone knows about you, okay? What with all your fangirls going around reciting details of your play style, personality, report card, and physical... physical... things," she ended with a biting tone.

"It's not like you play tennis," Ryoma said, trying not to imagine what else his fangirls knew about his personal life.

"I happen to play basketball," Akari countered. "Where you actually work with your teammates."

"Che, team sports are kind of annoying. Teammates never understand you perfectly, and you end up forcing yourself into harmony."

Akari felt a pang in her chest. Echizen seemed to be, without knowing or intending it, pointing out her social life. She didn't reply and looked down to continue eating. She was about to pick up a tamagoyaki (*japanese egg roll) when it was snatched away from right under her nose. She looked up to see Echizen Ryoma chewing with full cheeks, avoiding eye contact, the ends of his chopsticks still in his mouth.

"Echizen," the name came out of Akari's mouth with a soft growl.

"What?" He asked, still avoiding Akari's eyes but looking at her through his peripheral vision. He had to admit, Akari's annoyed look was kind of charming.

"Echizen!" Akari fumed. Sure, it was just a tamagoyaki, and she had a few more left anyways, but it was simply infuriating to feel like a boy was seeing through her deepest emotions one second, then to be stealing her food the next. Fortunately, Echizen relented under her glare and gave in, scratching his head.

"Sorry, mom promised me a japanese breakfast today but it was bacon and toast again..." Akari didn't say a word.

"...Sorry, it looked really good, okay?" Akari stayed silent.

"Goddamn it, I said sorry." He scowled, unable to keep up the apology for long. Akari couldn't help but melt at the sight. It was hilarious, and, okay, kinda cute.

"Hey, Echizen," Akari asked, "why did you invite me to have lunch with you?"

Ryoma shrugged. "I don't know." He paused to think, then continued, "I'm not big on friends, but just because I don't understand, it doesn't mean it's not important for other people. So I figured you were really down yesterday." He shrugged again. Ryoma wondered how this girl pulled these words out of him; conversation was rarely this easy.

"My turn to ask you something, Asato," Ryoma said. "Riko? The girl you had a fight with?"

"Yeah," Akari replied, stiffening.

"After we ate together, I saw her call you over from the stairs. You guys made up, right?" He asked. Akari didn't reply. Ryoma had thought it weird that Akari would come and eat lunch with him again, since she could now go sit with her friends. Why would Asato sit with him when she could return to her friends?

Akari had hoped Echizen hadn't noticed, but he had. Worse, the situation was not quite as he understood it. Akari grimaced as yesterday's memories came back.

* * *

><p>"Akari," Riko had waved her over as she walked down the stairs from the roof. Riko was smiling, and Akari was glad they were making up so soon.<p>

"Yeah, Riko, I'm sorry about what happened. We're best friends, and-" Akari stopped, noticing Riko's attention shift elsewhere and focus on a figure behind them. Akari turned around, wondering what Riko was looking at. Her heart sank as she saw Echizen Ryoma, coming down from the roof. They stayed silent as he passed them, and waited until he was well out of earshot. Finally, Riko's stare returned to Akari.

"Was that Echizen Ryoma? You had lunch with him?" Riko asked, or rather, demanded. Akari could visualize their friendship crumbling; Riko was one of Echizen's biggest fangirls around.

"Akari, you have to answer me!" Riko said, with an icy tone. Akari was at a loss for words- she lowered her head with a wince.

Riko sighed, hostility lacing her words. "I won't tell anyone. I'm not a bitch. But it looked suspicious and- well, I don't know what this means for our friendship, to be honest."

"No-no, it's nothing like that. We're just-" she caught herself. What even were they? It didn't feel like just a peer tutor-tutee thing. Friends, then? But friends didn't sound right. But... she had never thought of him as a... a boy, really never, but come to think of it, the way her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw that green hair- "we're just- nothing."

"Yeah right, Asato. Bye, see you in class, I guess." The sudden use of her last name stung Akari. She was left hanging- she wanted to let it go, like she had always been able to do. Akari wasn't the type of person to cry over something like this, she had always been able to forget it and move on. With her attractive looks and easygoing attitude, it was never too hard to find new friends when old ones left, but it got tiring. She had only been friends with Riko for one year. It really wasn't a huge loss, but why did people have to keep leaving her? _Is there something wrong with me? Why do I always lose my friends?_ _Maybe there's something just really disagreeable about me. Maybe that's why everyone leaves me all the time.__  
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* * *

><p>Ryoma, even being as dense as he was, sensed the sharp change in the air.<p>

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, but Akari didn't respond. Akari tended to not reply altogether whenever she couldn't figure out what to say.

"Asato, you don't have to answer-"

"Riko knows we ate together yesterday. She won't tell, but... but..." Akari bit her lip. She wouldn't cry in front of Echizen. Never. Never. And she had her eyes tightly shut, willing the tears to go away. She cursed as they started to flow, cursed the way she was crying over something like that.

Ryoma was frozen. He felt a pang of guilt he had never experienced before. Had he done something wrong just by eating lunch with Akari? Eating lunch with him deserved a broken friendship? But all thoughts aside, his biggest problem was that Akari was crying, and he needed to do something about it.

His body reacted before he could really think about it. He leaned closer, reached over to Akari's face with his left arm and brushed her tears off with one motion of his school jacket. It felt right.

Akari stopped mid-tear at the sudden contact. Her eyes opened wide. She was really too surprised to do anything, and her heart started beating like crazy. She looked into Echizen's eyes, all big and golden and looking at her like nothing just happened. _  
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There were no more words exchanged for the rest of the lunch period. But oh no, Akari Asato and Ryoma Echizen just might have silently realized they were crushing. On a certain green-haired boy and a certain hazel-eyed girl.


End file.
